rkrenicki's 2010 SH9 Forester X Limited - 2024-10-18 Officially traded away..

[rkrenicki]

Front brakes are finally in! I have a different set of rears on hand, but I need different hoses to actually install them.


These things are massive. The old rotors were no slouches either, they were found on many of the 2000s WRXes, including the 4-pots.


They look pretty good, even with my corroded winter wheels.

[98legwag]

Nicely done. Those Power Stop calipers look like the same ones, well powdercoated and whatnot, that I put on my Miata.

[rkrenicki]

Nicely done. Those Power Stop calipers look like the same ones, well powdercoated and whatnot, that I put on my Miata.

Indeed, that is why I bought them, not because they were red, but because they seemed to have a high quality powder coat. I am pretty bummed that the PowerStop rears both had malformed threads, but at least I have some other coated calipers that will do the job.

[BD5_Legacy_RSb]

Any update?

[rkrenicki]

I did buy the required hoses for the rear, but it has been hot and humid and I have had no interest in finishing the swap. Once it starts to cool down a bit outside, I will slap them on. I also started to have an issue in the front suspension, I think either something is loose, or one of the bushings may have failed. I jacked it up and threw a wrench on a few things, but I really need to dig deeper into it.. but again.. hot and humid.

[rkrenicki]

The car has been getting up there in age, and it is starting to show. We have decided to upgrade to something much newer, but I have not yet decided on exactly what. In the meantime, I have started to de-modify this car to prep it for its eventual sale.

I have already removed the STI Shift Knob and Strut Brace, and I did a big swap of radios: Bought an upgrade to give Sammie some Wireless Carplay, Sammies radio went into the Forester, and the Forester radio along with its SiriusXM radio is going to end up in the wifes Legacy. The underseat sub also came out, and will likely be a spare for Sammie as I have the same unit in there too.



The EDM rear tail light assembly has been replaced with a normal USDM light, and I may or may not put the original Halogen headlamps back in.. I have not yet decided if I want to pull everything apart for that.

I pulled out the old stock suspension from its hidey-hole, so the STI Pinks and Bilstein struts will come out next. I also will dig up the original rear swaybar too.

[rkrenicki]

I finished replacing the suspension (I forgot how much of a pain the rears are to replace), put the original headlights back in, pulled all of the wiring for the hideaway bulbs and headlight levelers, removed the Automatic Headlight/Wiper system, and the 3rd reverse light. I also remembered that I had a Diode Dynamics SmartTap, which seems to have skyrocketed in price as of late.. so I put the original back in for that as well.

We did decide last night to trade this car in instead of going through the exercise of selling it privately though.

[thenines']

How long before we know what new subie will be in your stable?

[rkrenicki]

Once the paperwork is officially signed, sounds like Friday is most likely as there is a small dent on one of the doors that they are going to fix first and I negotiated in one of the vehicle options that will take them some time to order and install.

While doing the headlight removals, I also found that the upper tank on the Forester radiator has a very small crack and is starting to weep.. so it looks like my timing here was spot on.

[rkrenicki]

Today was overcast, but still a nice temperature before it is supposed to shoot up to 90+ degrees for the next few days. I took the opportunity to install the 2015+ STI 20mm rear swaybar and installed new endlinks at the same time. It took about 30 minutes start to finish, and it is an amazing upgrade for the car. It has significantly less roll and is far more planted in turns. The best $85 I have spent so far, hands down.

Here is the 16mm bar next to the 20mm bar, before I corrected the endlink connections.
Attachment 3377

I just took this off today, the last mod to come off before the car goes away. I found the original swaybar with its endlinks in the back of my garage and figured it was a quick swap. Not sure what I will do with this one though.. it might fit on the Impreza?

[rkrenicki]

This car has served me well, but today was the day it was officially traded in. Good luck on your new adventures!